Recreational travelers often wish to have a photographic record not only of the places they visit but also of themselves at those places. Such photographs may be later shared with friends or kept to serve as a memory of the trip. For this reason, many travelers bring a camera along on their trip to take pictures of the various sights.
For some this approach is unsatisfactory. They may not own a camera or they may wish to avoid the inconvenience of carrying it around. Some travelers forget to bring their cameras or are uncertain about their ability to obtain pictures of high quality or composition. For the traveller to be included in the image, he or she must impose on a bystander or employ complex and bulky accessories such as timers and tripods.
These problems are solved, in part, by professionally prepared photographs which capture well composed images of particular scenic attractions. Typically, such photographs are in postcard format to be directly mailed through the U.S. mail system at a reduced rate.
Nevertheless, postcards are not an entirely satisfactory substitute for personal photographs in that the traveler is not in the picture.